Use of psychoactive substances among students in a Nigerian University: An imperative for intervention programs

Abstract

Psychoactive substance use is a social and public health issue that has become a global epidemic affecting various countries, including Nigeria. High occurrences of this menace have been recorded among students in different settings with limited reports on university students in Nigeria. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the magnitude of substance use among students in a Nigerian University and evaluate the strategies to address the problem. A structured self - administered questionnaire was used to obtain information from randomly selected undergraduate students. Information obtained included socio - demographic characteristics, knowledge and perception of substance users. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 20). The mean age of the respondents was 20 years. The proportions of female and male students were 58.9% and 41.1%, respectively. Twenty percent (20%) of them had consumed alcohol while 16% had taken marijuana and /or opoids including tramadol and codeine. Students who had used electronic vapor products were 27 (11.4%). Except for hashish, the use of substances was not statistically significant for both genders across all substances included in the study. Most (46; 78.0%) of those who had used substances were introduced to the vice by friends, while 4(6.7%) were by their parent/family members. Students (70.4%) who had used substances did so at parties. Peer pressure (73.7%) and curiosity were the highest influencing factors for the use of substances among the students. About 37% agreed that offenders should be punished, 45(19.1%) said ‘No’ to the idea, 54 (22.9%) were unsure and the remaining 49(20.8%) did not respond. Eighty-one (34.3%) of the students sampled, believed that guidance and counseling would be effective in dealing with drug abuse/substance use. Proposed intervention strategies include whistle blowing by the students and organisation of drug free club/association for students. Thus, continued study within the university community will help in the monitoring of patterns and the implementation of effective control strategies.